Monday, October 22, 2012

Late Cambodian king remembered

By Amber Parcher / The Daily ItemLYNN
— Although they are far away from their home country, Lynn’s Cambodian
community acutely felt the loss one of their country’s most revered
leaders.

Lynn Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, left, using Kirirath Saing, right,
to interpret, pays her respects at the memorial service for Cambodian
King Norodom Sihanouk held at the Sanghikaram Wat Khmer Temple in Lynn
Saturday.
(Item Photo / Owen O'Rourke)

King Norodom Sihanouk died of a heart attack last week
in Beijing at the age of 89. He left behind the memory of six decades
of monarchy that blended a complicated history of independence, peace
and war.

But Cambodians mostly remember Sihanouk’s rule as a
peaceful time, said Morn Prom, who organized a traditional Buddhist
memorial service for Lynn’s Cambodian community Saturday night at the
Sanghikaram Wat Khmer Temple on Chestnut Street.

“He’s not the
best king, but he’s a good king,” Prom said through a translator, as
around him people bowed in front of candle-lit photos of the late king
while monks clad in orange robes chanted blessings from microphones.

Cambodia’s king took the crown in 1941 after helping the former French
colony gain independence. He served off and on as king up to a brutal
genocide in the 1970s and had a brief return to the throne in the early
’90s as Cambodia transitioned from war to the constitutional monarchy
it is today.

Really, Sihanouk has been the only positive leader Cambodia has known, said Hong Net, who is also a Lynn city councilor.

“Under his rule, Cambodia became the model for southeast Asia,” Net said. “There were a lot of good times.”

Although
many of the 60-plus Lynn residents at the memorial service Saturday
mourned Sihanouk’s passing, they also celebrated his move onto another
life, a tenet of Buddhism that Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy pointed
out in her visit to the memorial service.

Prom said many
Cambodians are nervous to see their king leave this world because they
don’t know what’s in store for their country.

But he’s hopeful Sihanouk will guide the next generation’s leaders from above.